The "battle" with the Crimson King was the lamest thing of all time, after the references to him not only in TDT series, but in Insomnia, etc.

The actual ending I liked and thought it fitting.

Eh, I wasn't as put out by that. Given all we had learnt about the Crimson King, frankly it should have been a one-sided affair if they went toe-to-toe. It was Susannah's ending that I was disappointed over. To me that is the one that felt like a cop out given everything else that happened.

As to the whole "written through the author" thing, King has been one of those that have said for years that some stories they write just come out of them without sitting down and working it out piece by piece.

Wizard and Glass is straight up my fav out of all 7 of them. I know that at the time of its release it PISSED off the fans since it didnt move the story foward and then we had to wait yrs and yrs for Wolves of the Calla to come out....but I loved that book.

You know, not critisising here, but the past tales of Roland are more what I was expecting from this series. You hear 'Lord of the Rings meets Fistful of Dollars' (from King himself no less) and then you get a tiggerfingerless wet bulleted gun slinger searching a drug store for astin after a smack deal gone bad.
I love the books so far, but am def. loving the graphic novel series for giving me what I expected.

Now that Vol 5, The Battle of Jericho Hill is collected, does that mean the original intended arc is done? With the next series with Phillips art being an adaptation of Book 1? Is the intent now to adapt the series?

Anyone know?

Also, anyone who has enjoyed The Dark Tower graphic collections ought to check out Marvel's adaptation of The Stand. I've Vols 1-2, but only read Vol 1 so far and it was bloody creepy!

The new series does begin with that first scenes from The Gunslinger until he arrives at the hermit's home. From there it becomes a flashback to what happen to him after The Battle of Jericho Hill.

For me this sucks because the one of the main reasons I liked the flashbacks is because of Alain and Cuthbert.

What do we already know about what happened after the battle? Will this be important information about the horn? I wonder if king will have him losing it or keeping it in this book. Is the horn the object that will stop the cycle?

Universal Pictures and NBC Universal Television Entertainment have closed a deal to turn Stephen King?s mammoth novel series The Dark Tower into a feature film trilogy and a network TV series, both of which will be creatively steered by the Oscar-winning team behind A Beautiful Mind and The Da Vinci Code.

Ron Howard has committed to direct the initial feature film, as well as the first season of the TV series that will follow in close proximity. Akiva Goldsman will write the film, and the first season of the TV series. Howard?s Imagine Entertainment partner Brian Grazer will produce, with Goldsman and the author.

When Deadline revealed in April that Howard, Goldman and Grazer planned to team with King, Universal was battling Warner Bros?home of Goldsman?s Weed Road--for the property. The multi-platform deal was so comprehensive, it took months to close. It will be announced later today by Universal Pictures chairman Adam Fogelson, co-chairman Donna Langley, NBC Universal Television Entertainment chairman Jeff Gaspin, and NBC & Universal Media Studios Primetime Entertainment president Angela Bromstad, all of whom pulled it together.

I spoke with Goldsman and Howard, who have polled enough of their peers to be convinced what they are doing here has never been attempted: using a major studio?s film and TV platforms simultaneously to tell a story. It is reminiscent of when Peter Jackson directed three installments of The Lord of The Rings, back to back, so that they could be released in three consecutive years.

?What Peter did was a feat, cinematic history,? Howard told me. ?The approach we?re taking also stands on its own, but it?s driven by the material. I love both, and like what?s going on in TV. With this story, if you dedicated to one medium or another, there?s the horrible risk of cheating material. The scope and scale call for a big screen budget. But if you committed only to films, you?d deny the audience the intimacy and nuance of some of these characters and a lot of cool twists and turns that make for jaw-dropping, compelling television. We?ve put some real time and deep thought into this, and a lot of conversations and analysis from a business standpoint, to get people to believe in this and take this leap with us. I hope audiences respond to it in a way that compels us to keep going after the first year or two of work. It?s fresh territory for me, as a filmmaker.?

Considered King?s answer to JRR Tolkien?s Middle Earth trilogy, The Dark Tower revolves around Roland Deschain, the last living member of a knightly order of gunslingers, and humanity?s last hope to save a civilization that will crumble unless he finds the Dark Tower. Howard and Goldsman describe the world as ?an alternate Americana, one part post-apocalyptic, one part Sergio Leone.?

Goldsman first mentioned The Dark Tower to Howard and Grazer while they worked on A Beautiful Mind nearly a decade ago.

?Akiva said, ?Stephen will not let go of it, but it?s like nothing else you?ve ever read,?? Howard recalled. ?It was frustrating because it?s one of those works where you read it, and then at odd times, the imagery and sensations just pop up in your mind. This is going to be an amazing life experience for us, trying to do justice to the story and the universe.?

King granted an option?for $19, a number relevant to the plotline--to JJ Abrams and his Lost partners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse. They never cracked the sprawling plotline and all the characters. Goldsman pounced when the rights were available, but saw the same problems until Howard suggested using film and TV platforms. Though Howard famously grew up on a TV screen on The Andy Griffith Show, he hasn?t directed TV since the early 80s, but is eager to return. It seems hard to fathom he'd direct a full season'

Taking into consideration that they are saying they want us to get the complete Dark Tower story, the scheduling seams really weird to me. Why show a season of young Roland and then only have one movie to wrap everything up? That means that most of the Dark Tower tale must be told in season 1 and movie 2, with perhaps only the second half of book 7 told in movie 3(no way could they fit the last book in its entirety into one movie).

It would make much more sense to me if half of s2 had the young Roland stories, and the second half gave us more from the main books.

I'll just go ahead and nom Clint Eastwood already. What better note to end your career on than a set of books that drew a good deal of inspiration from films that made you culturally significant anyway.

I don't think you can really minimize the impact of Sergio Leon's films on Dark Tower and King's work in general. Besides the obvious, King goes on and on about them in his nonfiction books as well.